Obama, Romney presidential polls, breaking down the numbers

Two days before the first presidential debate and Mitt Romney is within striking distance of President Obama. That’s according to some of the latest polls.

The Politico-GW Battleground poll has President Obama up by just two points. That’s within the margin of error.

• Obama 49%• Romney 47%

However, a separate poll has the President up nine points in swing states, but trailing among independents. Skeptics from both sides of the aisle say the number crunchers could have a motive or could have flawed data.

Politicians worry too many people let the polls influence their vote, so they downplay the data.

Virginia Senate Candidate Tim Kaine, tied for the past year with George Allen in the Washington poll, is cautious about a sudden breakthrough that has him up eight points.

"Some are showing that you're good and some are showing that it's tied,” said Kaine. “You always gotta kinda adopt the reasonably pessimistic poll as your guide because you do wanna stay energized."